Alegna
General information Aleña (/al.'e.ɲa/) is a Romance inspired language spoken in modern-day Portugal, Spain, and Southern France. It is regulated by the Academy of Aleñal Culture and Language. (ACLA). Phonology Consonants Vowels Diphthongs aʊ, je, wo Orthography 1c is pronounced as s before i, e, au. A hard c can be written as qu 2g is pronounced as x before i, e, au. A hard g can be written as gu 3r is pronounced as ɾ at the end of words and after consonants. It is pronounced as ʁ everywhere else. Aleña uses the acute accent (´) to mark stress. Except in a diphthong, a grave accent (`) on a vowel indicates a vowel is preceded by /j/. Punctuation and Capitalization Periods Aleña uses periods to end a complete sentence or abbreviate a word, e.g. Lê aivòñe vuolao suovêr lo dao. '' Commas Aleña uses commas to dependent clauses or preposition phrases to the beginning of a sentence or to separate ideas in a list. Question Marks Question marks appear at the end of an interrogative sentence Quotation marks Aleña uses << text >> instead of quotation marks. Capitalization Aleña capitalizes names, titles, and place. It does not capitalize religions, languages, or adjectives derived places Stress Stress in Alenã falls on the penultimate syllable, except in infinitves, where it maintained Latin's stress on the V̄́re. Irregular stress is marked by the acute accent (´). Grammar Nouns Unlike the other romance languages, Aleña did not completely eliminate Latin's case system, however, it came quite close. Latin's 5 declensions were also condensed into 3 declensions, with neuter nouns becoming masculine. Furthermore, Latin's cases were reduced to the nominative and oblique in Aleña. They are used as follows: The '''nominative' case is used to mark the subject of the verb and after certain prepositions. It is also used to mark the agent in the passive voice. The oblique 'case is used to mark objects of the verb and after certain prepositions. It is also used to mark the patient in the passive voice Other cases are expressed using prepositions, most notably the genitive case. To express possession, the preposition ''de ''is used along with the nominative case. The possessor is the head of the prepositional phrase (e.g. ''de lê aivòñe - ''of the airplane of the airplane's). Ambiguous case/gender/number are resolved by the articles (which are provided in the dictionary entry. Gender should be memorized). Declension I These nouns are derived from the -''a stems in Latin and are mostly feminine. Declension II These nouns are derived from the ''-us, -um'' stems in Latin and are mostly masculine. Declension III These nouns are derived from the ''-es, ''-''is stems (in the genitive) in Latin and are both masculine and feminine Derivation Many nouns can be derived from verbs. To this, remove the ''r ''from the infinite of the verb and add: -''dor: ''the doer of something TBD Pronouns Pronouns in Latin preserve the case system to a much higher degree than regular nouns, keeping (to some degree) the nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, and reflexive cases. In general the nominative case is used to mark the subject and after certain prepositions, the accusative case is used to mark the direct object and after certain prepositions, the dative case is used to mark the direct object, the genitive case is used to mark possession, and the reflexive case is used to indicate that subject both does and receives an action. However, note that some verbs change meaning when used with a reflexive pronoun. Also, the dative is used in certain passive constructions (deponent verbs). Aleña uses separate possessive pronouns that agree in number, gender and case with the noun they possess. Note that the third person singular and plural possessive pronouns are identical. Pronoun placement in Aleña can be a bit complicated. Pronoun Placement The subject pronoun always goes before the verb and the object pronoun usually goes before the conjugated verb in the order of ''ACC, REFL, DAT. ''However, if the verb requires a preposition, the prepositional phrase is moved from after the verb to before the subject pronoun. More information is given in the verbs section. 1st person singular 2nd person singular 3rd person singular 1st person plural 2nd person plural 3rd person plural Aleña's most common interrogative pronouns and adjectives, while descended from Latin's, have lost case, number, and gender. They are listed in the table below. The most common relative pronouns/adjectives in Aleña are listed belove. Note they are similar to the interrogative pronouns/adjectives, differing only by an accent. Finally are the Aleña demonstrative pronouns/adjectives. These are used simillarly to their English counterparts. They agree in number in gender with their antecedent/the noun they are describing. Note which forms are the same. Adjectives Adjectives in Aleña are far simplier than there Latin counterparts and only agree in number and gender with the noun they are describing. Usually, adjectives are placed after the noun they modify; however, some adjectives (like ''buoñào, mêlo, vèos, and huovên) are placed before the noun they modify. In addition, adjective placement can sometimes change the meaning of the adjective. Adjectives that end in -ao Adjectives that end in a consonant. Articles Aleña uses articles to express definiteness and agree in number, gender with the noun they modify. Since some nouns have ambigious gender, the definite article is provided as part of the dictionary entry. The definite article is used more frequently than in English (like in Spanish), but the indefinite article is used in approximately the same way. Definite Article The indefinite article is derived from ille, illa Indefinite Article The indefinite article is derived from ūnus, ūna Comparison of adjectives Aleña lost the suffixes of Latin and instead uses a modifier, mais + que ''or ''mieños + que ''to form the comparative form of the adjective and ''lê/lao mais ''or ''lê/lao mieños ''to form the superlative form of the adjective. A few irregular forms adjectives still exist ''buoñao (good) > meyor > lê/lao meyor mêlo (bad) > peòr > lê/lao peòr vèos (old) > maiòr > lê/lao maiòr huovên (young) > mienor > lê/lao mienor Note, don't confuse meyor ''with ''maiòr ''and ''mienor ''with ''mieños! Both nouns in the comparison are in the nomiantive case e.g. ''Hê aivòñe êste maiòr que esê aivòñe - This airplane is older than that airplane''.' Adverbs Adverbs in Aleña are usually simple; adjectives can be made into adverbs by taking the feminine singular form and adding -''mênê For example: grêndào > grêndamênê fêcil > fêcilemêne Some adjectves become adverbs irregular e.g. buoñao > bien Most adverbs are placed immediately after the verb, but adverbs referring to duration of time (siemprê (always), nuoncao (never), etc.) ''are placed before the verb. Verbs Verb are the most complicated part of Aleña grammar. Latin's 4 conjugations fell into 3 conjugations in Aleña: ''-ar, er, ''and ''-ir. Latin ''-ō'' become ''-ar'', -ēo and ''-ō (-ere)'' became ''-er and ''-īo ''became ''-ire. ''Aleña verbs conjugate for the indicate, subjunctive, conditional, and imperative moods. The perfect and continuous apsects are formed using a paraphrastic construction: ''hêver + ''past participle for the perfect aspect and ''êser ''+ present participle for the continuous apsects. While verbs do not have separate inflections for the passive voice, a special construction is used to create the passive voice (somewhat similar to, though more complete than, the passive ''se in Spanish). Verb negation Verbs in Aleña are negated with non e.g. Non eò te aimê ''- I might not love you. Infinitive In Aleña, the infinite usually ends in ''-êr, -er, ''or ''-ir. However, it is common in colloquial speech and writing to drop the end of the infinitive, writing/saying just the stem of the verb. If the verb stem ends in ñ ''or ''y, those letters are changed to n ''and ''l ''respectively (e.g. ''ai'mêr > aim, vêñir > vên, etc.). Verbs stems that in a vowel (oìr, lêèr, crêèr, etc.) do not exhibit this process. Passive Voice The passive voice is formed by placing a special pronoun in front of the verb. The pronoun agrees in number and gender with the patient. The verb itself is conjugated normally (i.e. there are no special passive conjugations). It is important to distinguish these pronouns from the reflexive pronouns. Unlike other romance language, this construction is used even when the agent is explictly mentioned with pòr E.g - Aimao lo aivòñê - ''I love the plane vs. ''Lo aivòñê es aimao - The plane is loved vs. Lo aivòñê es aimao pòr eò ''- The plane is loved by me. The passive voice is fairly common in Aleña so it is important to learn it well. 1st Conjugation This conjugation is the largest conjugation and is conjugated as follows. Simple Tenses *Note that the stem for these verbs is from the ''eò ''form of the present indicative tense Perfect Tenses Perfect tenses are formed with ''hêv ''+ the past participle. 2nd Conjugation Simple Tenses 1 Note that the stem for these verbs is from the eò ''form of the present indicative tense. 2 In this case, the e ''and ''i ''are in two separate syllables, not separated by /j/ Perfect Tenses Perfect tenses are formed with ''hêv + the past participle 3rd Conjugation Simple Tenses 1 Note that the stem for these verbs is from the eò form of the present indicative tense. 2 In this case, the e ''and ''i ''are in two separate syllables, not separated by /j/ Perfect Tenses Perfect tenses are formed with ''hêv + the past participle Irregular Verbs Aleña has a fair amount of irregular verbs, most of which are stem changing verbs. There are a few verbs that are totally irregular. The most common ones are listed below (the irregular forms are highlighted) Hêv Hêv ''is an auxiliary verb used to form the perfec tenses (the third person singular also means "there is/are"). This is the only verb with a different pattern for the infinitve. 1In this case, the ''e ''and ''i ''are in two separate syllables, not separated by /j/ ''Êsser Êsser ''is one verb meaning "to be" (along with ''estêr). '' 1 In this case, the ''e ''and ''i ''are in two separate syllables, not separated by /j/ ''Estar Estar ''also means "to be" and is used to form the continuous tenses (along with the present participle). It is irregular only in the preterite and past subjunctives. 1In this case, the ''e ''and ''i ''are in two separate syllables, not separated by /j/ Poder ''Poder ''is an auxiliary verb meaning "to be able to." 1In this case, the ''e ''and ''i ''are in two separate syllables, not separated by /j/ Reflexive Verbs Reflexive verbs are formed using a reflexive pronoun. Conjugation tables usually list the reflexive pronoun with the verb e.g. ''dormirse - to go to sleep is conjugated as me duormao, te duormes, se duormê, ''etc. Syntax Sentences Generally, Aleña is an SVO language. Independent clauses are always SVO when not used in an interrogative sentence. However, dependent clauses not introduced by ''que ''are often VSO. ''Que ''is never optional as in English. Pronoun Placement In general, nominative pronouns are not used in Aleña because the verb usually indicates the subject. Object pronouns are always placed before the conjugated verb and nothing may go between the object pronoun and the verb. They may also be attached the the end of an infinitve (when there is a conjugated verb before it), present paritciple, or past participle (when the verb is being used in the perfect). Some verbs are followed by a preposition. When they require a pronoun, the preposition + pronoun are moved before the subject pronoun. An overview of pronoun placement is below. ''Preposition + Pronoun - Subject Pronoun - Reflexive Pronoun - Indirect Object Pronoun - Direct Object Pronoun - Conjugated Verb or Preposition + Pronoun - Subject Pronoun - Conjugated Verb - Infinitive/Present Participle/Past Partciple - Direct Object Pronoun - Indirect Object Pronount - Reflexive Pronoun '' Interrogative Sentences The order of the sentence is inverted in questions, becoming VSO. Unlike English, the verb "do" is not needed in questions (e.g. Does the plane fly = ''Vuolao lê aivòñe?). ''When an interrogative pronoun is used as the subject, the word order remains VSO (e.g. Who is flying the plane? = ''Vuolao qués lo aivòñê?). ''Wen an interrogative pronoun is used as the object, the word order becomes OVS (e.g. Whom do you love? = ''Qués aimas tu?). Conditional Clauses Aleña, like other languages, has several ways of expressing conditional clauses. All conditional clauses have the same structure: Si ''+ verb (condition) + '', ''+ verb (result). However, there are several differrent combinations of verb moods that create several different meanings *If X is true, Y is true (Indicative Present + Indicative Present) *If X is true, Y will be true (Indicative Present + Future Present) *If X has been true, Y has been true (Present Perfect Indicative + Present Perfect Indicative) *If X has been true, Y will have been true (Present Perfect Indicative + Future Perfect Indicative) *If X were true, Y would be true (Imperfect Subjunctive + Conditional Present) *If X were true, Y would have been true (Pluperfect Subjunctive + Conditional Present Perfect)1 *If X had been true, Y would have been true (Imperfect Subjunctive + Conditional Past or Conditional Present Perfect) *If X should be true, Y will be true (Present Subjunctive + Future Subjunctive)2 1Relatively rare, not generally used in spoken Aleña 2Incredibly rare, never used in spoken Aleña, only extremely formal literary or legal documents. Uses of Verbs The distinctions between tense/mood in Aleña can be quite complicated and sometimes differ from other romance languages. Preterit vs. Imperfect The distinction between the preterit and imperfect is largely similar to other romance languages. In general, the preterit refers to a single event or a completed action and the imperfect refers to a habitual or ongoing event. Some verbs change meaning based on which past tense is used Descriptions also change meaning depending on the past tense used. Descrptions in the ''preterit ''mean that that characterstic has changed (e.g. ''Lao isolao fue pêqueña ''- The island was small (but it isn't anymore)). Descriptions in the imperfect mean that the characteristic hasn't changed (e.g. ''Lao isolao êrê pêqueña ''- The island was small (and still is)). Use of the infinitive vs. the present participle (gerund) Aleña only uses the present participle when forming the continuous tense. When the present participle is used as a noun in English, Aleña uses an infinitive (this is not declined). When the peresent participle is used as an adjunct, Aleña uses ''de + ''infinitive. Examples: ''Estao joguêndao en la aica ''- I am playing in the water ''Aimao jogar en la aica ''- I love playing in the water ''Veèmos luos piscos de naàr en la aica ''- We saw the fish swimming in the water. Use of the indicative vs. the subjunctive While similar to many romance languages, there are some unique distinctions in Aleña. One thing unique to Aleña is that Aleña frequently uses the subjunctive in independent clauses (''sobjonctivao solao). There are several ways to translate it depending on context Present Subjunctive The present subjunctive, when used in independent clauses, usually translates as "may" or "might" e.g. Te aimê ''- I might love you. It can also be used to refer to an indefinite or non existent subject or used in general truths e.g. ''Los pisqui naèñe ''- Fish swim. '''Future Subjunctive ' The future subjunctive, when used in independnet clauses, also translates as "may" or "might." The phrase êsse a ''+ infinitive translates as "to plan to" when used in the future subjunctive. It can also be used to refer to an indefinite or non existent subject. ''Êsserí a naàr ''- I plan to swim ''Hêvé piscos en la mêra mañao ''- There may be fish in the sea tomorrow. The future subjunctive is very frequently used in independent clauses to refer to events that may or may not happen, such as weather predictions, predictions about sporting events, and the distant (> 1 year in the future) future. '''Past Subjunctive' The past subjunctive is not used in independent clauses very frequently. It usually translates to "may" or "might" as well. It is not usually used to refer to an indefinite or non existent subject. ''Hêssê piscos en la mêra deào ''- There may have been fish in the sea yesterday. Vocabulary Example text UDHR ''Todao los humañi nacêñe libros e aicuales en digneda e dirêctos '' Category:Languages Category:Romance conlangs